The Dudleys

William D. Dudley, Sr.

William D. Dudley, Sr. is the earliest Dudley I can definitely tie my family to and he was born 29 Dec. 1820 in Georgia. By 1850 he was married to Mahala Burnam , and they have a 4 month old, George Washington Dudley. They were living in Jackson Co. Florida with William's in-laws, Caraway and Nancy Burnam and farming. Both Wm. D and Mahala were born in Georgia, so it is possible that they met in Georgia and migrated to Florida with the Burnam family. William and Mahala had seven children, the youngest of which was Bryant "Coon" Dudley. As an "old" man (40) Wm. enlisted in Greenwood, Florida as a Private in Co I, Florida 4th Infantry Regiment on 03 Dec. 1861 and was mustered out on 25 Dec. 1862.

Mahala died in 1881 and a year later Wm. D married Rebecca Money. They had one (apparently adopted) child.

Bryant "Coon" Dudley

Bryant "Coon" Dudley was born 05 June 1863 in Jackson County, Florida. He moved accross the state line to Alabama sometime in the early to mid 1880's where he married Emma Elizabeth Hughes in 1886. Bryant farmed land in Geneva County, Alabama where he and Emma had and raised seven children. Bryant died in 1910 at age 47 from typhoid fever and Emma died in 1942.

John Tyler (John T) Dudley

John T. Dudley was born 28 Oct 1892 in Geneva County, Alabama. He first married Gussie Jackson and they had three sons (Lavoid, J.T. and Jack). Gussie died in 1921 and John T. married my maternal grandmother, Cora Alabama Spooner Hudspeth, in 1922 (after her first husband John M. Hudspeth died). He and Cora had 2 children, my mother Johnnie B. and and an infant son that died shortly after birth. After divorcing Cora, John T. moved to Marianna, Florida and married Claudia Bell Kingry in 1932. They had two children (Bennie Joe and Mary Sue). John T. died in Marianna, Jackson County, Florida 05 Aug 1977 at 84 years of age. John T ran a dry goods store in Marianna for many years before his death.

Johnnie B Dudley

Johnnie B was born 12 Jan 1926 in Dothan, Alabama and lived most of her youth in Webb, Alabama (on the outskirts of Dothan). She met Ralph E. Mendheim and they were married 08 Jan 1943 just before she turned 17 years of age. They had four children (Gloria D., Charlotte A., Dudley E. and Phyllis D.). They lost Gloria to an accidental shooting when she was 5 years old and the other three live in Alabama, Florida and Alabama respectively. She died Jun. 24, 1999 after a bout with cancer.